Category: Local Perspective
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Sound Familiar?
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Tell me if this sounds familiar. People are talking. It’s going well. The conversation is thoughtful; folks are asking good questions, considering different angles, making sure they understand the full picture. And then it…just sort of…keeps going. One more perspective. One more possibility. One more thing to take into account Read more
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Says Who??
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Each week, when I sit down to figure out what I’m going to write about, I usually go back and read the last column or two and see where my thoughts want to go next. I got to the last sentence of last week’s article, though, and stopped. “Where a Read more
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Connection Across Differences: Part 4
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation The question we left off with last week was “How do we create communities where differences don’t immediately divide, and where connection is intentional, not accidental?” I ask myself this question so often. Especially after watching the news, which, frankly, I avoid. I prefer to read my news rather than Read more
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Connection Across Differences: Part 3
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Our snippet of conversation last week left off with a thought about processing difficult feelings, like anger, and staying grounded as a way of staying connected through differences. Disagreeing and staying connected. Oof. That has, historically, been really hard for me. Once upon a time I would just…avoid any and Read more
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Connection Across Differences: Part 2
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Last week, we ended with an open question: “Maybe the question isn’t how we resolve every difference, but how we decide which conversations are worth staying in.” That’s an incredibly powerful point. I think a lot about the energy we give to things, to people. The older I get, the Read more
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Resolution-Adjacent
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Well, here we are – a whole week into a whole new year. This time of year always comes with a strange kind of energy, doesn’t it? A mix of gratitude, fatigue, cautious optimism, and pressure. Because as soon as we re-emerge into the post-holiday world, we’re expected to have Read more
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Truth, Turkey, and Grandma’s Knitting
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation I have a question for you. How do we tell people the things they might not want to hear, but kind of need to hear. And even more importantly, how do we learn to graciously accept that kind of feedback ourselves? It’s been on my mind lately, probably from watching Read more
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Red Light, Green Light, Gratitude
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Last week, I talked about noticing. How travel, or even someone else’s travel story, can jolt us out of autopilot. And it is amazing when noticing leads to a spark which leads to movement which leads to impact. Of course, seeing clearly – sharing your spark, even – doesn’t guarantee Read more
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Seeing What’s There
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation I’ve been sitting with Rachel’s travel reflections for these last couple weeks. If you haven’t read them yet, go back when you have a minute; they’re beautiful, heartfelt, and thought-provoking. There’s just something about stories of somewhere new, somewhere unexpected, that makes your own world feel a little wider too. Read more
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Where Burden and Beauty Coexist
By Rachel Brosnahan This is a bit of a part two to the story I shared last week about my time in Europe. After the Intensive, I spent the second week of my trip traveling through parts of Serbia, Hungary, and Croatia. Some of it was to reconnect with family roots. Some of it was Read more